Center treats struggling religious professionals

While the quiet presence of the St. John Vianney Center, a private psychiatric hospital in Downingtown, has worried some residents, it continues to offer treatment to struggling religious professionals.

An incident in December 2012 had two mothers raising questions about the center. On Dec. 4, a patient was found on Bishop Shanahan High School campus by parents and school officials.

“We take the safety and security of students at all of our schools very seriously,” said Director of Communications for the Archdiocese Kenneth Gavin.

According to Gavin, the facility, owned by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, offers “research-based, multi-disciplinary treatment”. According to the center’s website, people treated by the center include “clergy and religious professional men and women with behavioral disorders and psychiatric illnesses.”

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Gavin also said that the center is staffed by psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses, social workers and spiritual counselors to aid their patients.

While the facility has been open since 1946, some newer residents were unaware of the patients at St. John Vianney Center.

“I didn’t know what it was,” said Barry Cassidy, a borough resident for the past 12 years.

According to Cassidy, while he was the previous Main Street Association’s revitalization coordinator, Bishop Shanahan’s construction was proposed to the borough. When he asked about the center, he was informed that it was a retirement home for clergy. He said he only recently became aware of the actual services provided by the center after two Bishop Shanahan parents informed the public about the Dec. 4 incident during a Borough Council workshop.

“I’ve been here 37 years,” said Downingtown Police Chief McGowan. “I’ve lived in (Downingtown) my entire life, I’m fourth generation. We have always had a decent relationship with St. John Vianney. Normally we only talk to them if there’s an ambulance call.”

According to McGowan, the center is a business that maintains working relationships with other businesses.

“It’s not like a secret,” said McGowan. “I don’t think the general population is more or less aware of (the facility) than they are of anything else in town.”

To date, the recent incident has been the only one recorded since the school was opened in 1998. The faith-centered facility was opened as a behavioral health facility in 1946, and currently operates as a behavioral treatment and education center, and is sponsored by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

According to Gavin, once school administration learned about the patient on their grounds, the center was immediately notified.

“There was no indication that the individual posed a threat to himself or others,” Gavin said.

School families were later informed about the incident in December, and again in early February to outline the steps the school takes on a regular basis to ensure student safety, including the following:

• Extensive surveillance cameras inside and outside the building.

• All doors are locked from the outside.

• All visitors to campus are screened before entry to the building is allowed.

• A longstanding and positive relationship with the Downingtown Chief of Police.

• Training provided for faculty to assist in emergency planning and response in conjunction with the Assistant Principal for Student Services.

According to Gavin, in the period following the incident, meetings took place involving school and center administrators, the Downingtown Police, and local elected officials.

“This has been highly publicized,” said McGowan. “There’s not been a groundswell of concern from our citizenry over the issue that’s been raised. Does it deserve due diligence? Absolutely and its been given that.”

However since the incident, Kathy Kane and Margaret Reif, mothers of Bishop Shanahan High School students, upon becoming aware of the center’s purpose, have become concerned with the facility’s policy of permitting some patients off-grounds privileges.

According to Gavin, regardless of why a patient is at the center, at no time would he be extended off-campus privileges if he is considered a threat to himself or others. Each resident is assessed by a team of clinical professionals to determine privilege level, specifically as to whether or not he can leave the building or the grounds of the hospital. Residents are only given off-grounds privileges if the team decides they do not present a risk to themselves or the community.

Privilege levels for patients, and all of the center’s operating protocols, are dictated by best practices that are identified by the commonwealth. The facility is fully licensed by the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare, and Department of Health as a psychiatric and rehabilitation facility. The center is also accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.

Due to such licensing and accreditation, the center must follow safety policies aimed at protecting not only its patients, but also the community.

“I do not have an opposition to the center,” said Kane, who, with Reif, informed the public about their concerns during a Borough Council workshop. “I think people need (and) deserve treatment. My biggest concern is that clergy men with criminal charges against them from out of state to Vianney for treatment while the criminal case is unfolding are completely unknown to the local police, to the local community. When someone locally is arrested, everyone knows. We are not assured that criminal patient cases are not prohibited from the (unique policy). My concern is that patients who are in-patient hospitalized for addiction, mental health or sexual disorders are given unsupervised access to the community.”

According to Gavin, patients at the Vianney Center are treated for a wide range of reasons, including psychological, spiritual and physical recovery.

“Notably, all Saint John Vianney Center residents are voluntarily admitted with a condition that they must adhere to the terms of their hospitalization and treatment,” Gavin said. The center does not accept patients who have been judged by a court of law or forensic commitments, nor does it act as an alternative to incarceration. “Additionally, inpatients in Pennsylvania have a bill of rights, which would preclude (the center) from grounding all of the patients in the hospital.”